Manchester City snaps up Erling Haaland from Dortmund for $63 million
The Hindu
After Manchester City activated the release clause in Erling Haaland’s contract, Dortmund signed Karim Adeyemi as his replacement
Manchester City has agreed to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, bringing in one of the world’s most exciting young players as a belated replacement for club great Sergio Aguero.
The 21-year-old Haaland will join City on July 1, the reigning Premier League champions said in a brief statement on Tuesday, subject to personal terms being finalised.
Erling Haaland will cost €60 million ($63.2 million) after City activated the release clause in his Dortmund contract. He is set to sign a five-year contract with the club he supported as a kid and for whom his father, Alf-Inge, played from 2000-03.
Along with Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland is leading the new generation of soccer superstars ready to take over from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. A tall, powerful and fast center forward, he has 85 goals in 88 games for Dortmund since joining from Austrian club Salzburg in January 2020 and last year became the youngest player to reach 20 goals in the Champions League.
Erling Haaland, who had also been linked with a move to Real Madrid, could be the headline signing that lifts Manchester City from being a regular winner of domestic trophies to the standout team in Europe. Pep Guardiola’s team has failed to win the Champions League despite heavy spending by the club’s Abu Dhabi ownership.
Manchester City has played without an out-and-out striker this season following the departure of Aguero, its record scorer, at the end of the 2020-21 campaign after 10 years. The team’s lack of a natural goal-scorer has shown in some big matches this season, notably when getting eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals despite scoring five goals across two legs.
In a sense, Erling Haaland is returning home. He was born in England—in Leeds, which is a short drive from Manchester in the north of the country—while his father was playing for Manchester City in the Premier League. As a kid, Erling Haaland was pictured wearing a City jersey.